"The Vision of Obadiah," poetry

By Dan Lukiv

Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022.

Introduction

The year-607 BCE. The circumstances-recently Babylon has annihilated Jerusalem, and the Edomites, blood related to all the tribes of Israel, have actually handed over fleeing Israelites who managed to escape Babylonian soldiers. How does Jehovah feel about this betrayal?

Obadiah, the prophet, tells us nothing about himself, but he has much to say about Jehovah's feelings and perspective: "You [Edom] are utterly despised." (verse 2) Also, "Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will perish forever. On the day when you stood off to the side, on the day when strangers took his army into captivity, when foreigners entered his gate and cast lots over Jerusalem, you acted like one of them." (10, 11)

Where on today's globe do we find Edom? Really, Edom stands as an apt symbol of the eventuality of those who show hatred for Jehovah and his covenant people.

An excerpt, a poem relating to chapter one of Obadiah

What is Moab with a
Broken skull? When will
Amalek join him in his
Blood-soaked grave?
How fast will Edom run
Off a cliff? Where will
Seir hide from his last
Breath? Who will pour
Water on Kain when he
Bursts into flames? Why
Did Assyria love to skin
His enemies?

While history builds ships
That conquer, the answers are
Bats and shrewmice
In caves that reek.

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B08BWCKYVY
• ISBN13: 9798657083712
• Release Date: June 2020
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 58 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 11.0"